Indian Racing Reminiscences
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"'' > ^t Ml^ACING mm University of Pennsylvania Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript Library \/ X55 GIFT OF FAIRMAN ROGERS. 1 INDIAN RACING REMINISCENCES. " BY THE SAME AUTHOR. VETERINARY NOTES FOR HORSE-OWNERS. Second Edition, Crown 8vo., \os. 6d. The Field. — " Of the many popular veterinary books which have come under our notice, this is certainly one of the most scientific and reliable." Saturday Review. — '.' The work is written in a clear and practical way." RIDING: ON THE FLAT AND ACROSS COUNTRY. ILLUSTRATED BY S TURGESS. Second Edition, Crown Svo., lo.r. 6d. Bell's Life.—"Well written and thoroughly practical." Tnith. — " An excellent book on riding." Bailyi's Magazine. —"An eminently practical teacher, whose theories are the outcome of experience, learned not in the study, but on the road, in the hunting field, and on the racecourse." The Standard. —" A master of his subject." The Field. —"Thoroughly reliable." Sporting Times. —" We heartily commend it to our readers." TRAINING AND HORSE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA. New Edition, Crown Svo., 7^. dd. The Veterinary Journal. — "We entertain a very high opinion of Captain Hayes' book on ' Horse Training and Management in India,' and are of opinion that no better guide could be placed in the hands of either amateur horseman or veterinary surgeon newly arrived in that important division of our Empire. Satjcrday Rezneiv. — " The general instructions which it contains, and which are of a shrewd and practical character, render it a useful guide in regard to horses anywhere." Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2009 with funding from Lyrasis IVIembers and Sloan Foundation http://www.archive.org/details/indianracingreOOhaye Fronbispiect THACKER SPINK & 0° CALCUTTA. INDIAN RACING REMINISCENCES, M. HORACE HAYpS {Laic Cafitain " The Buff's") .•<•-> "i AUTHOR OF RIDING ON THE FLAT AND ACROSS COUNTRY,""''VETERINARY NOTES FOR HORSE-OWNERS," "TRAINING AND HOKSE MANAGEMENT IN INDIA," ETC. ILLUSTRATED BY J. K. FERGUSON. W. THACKER & CO., 87, NEWGATE STREET. Calcutta : THACKER, SPINK & CO. BOMEAY : THACKER & CO., LIMITED. {All rights reserz'cd). UNWIN BROTHERS, THE GRESHAM PRESS CHILWOETH AND LONDON. PREFACE. After leaving India in 1880, I contributed to the Calcutta Englishman several articles under the title of " Indian Racing Reminiscences." These papers were so well received by the Indian Press and Public, that I determined to produce them in book form. The pro- prietor of the Calcutta journal, on the staff of which I have been for some years, generously waived his part- claim to their copyright. On rearranging the material I had by me, I found so much to add and revise, that more than two-thirds of the present book now appears for the first time. After going to press, I received letters from the well- known Indian jockeys, Oscar Dignum and poor Tom Cozens, both grand horsemen, who enclosed accounts of the chief incidents of their lives for this book. I regret extremely that these communications came too late. Dignum, who thoroughly deserves his good luck, still VI Preface. continues his successful engagement as trainer to H.H. the Rajah of Paikpara. This native Prince is a beau-ideal sportsman : he keeps a large stable of horses, spares no expense in their purchase and management, never bets a penny, and races entirely for sport. I am much indebted to my friend Mr. J. K. Ferguson for his trouble in illustrating this book. M. H. HAYES. JuMOR Army and Navy Club, St. James's Street, London, S.W. 2isi Maixh, 1S83. ^^: . T. CoMVNS Cole , Esq FagtIX CALCUTTA TH ACKER , SPINK & C° DEDICATION. Junior Army and Navy Club, St. James's St., S.W. 21 St March, 1883. Dear Cole,—Long before I had the pleasure of meeting you and the honour of gaining your friendship, I, in common with every old Indian I have ever met who was fond of racing, regarded you almost as a personal friend, for you used to bring yourself very near to us by your charming letters in the Allahabad journal on Sport in England. By dedicating this small book to you, I venture to act as the spokesman of our Indian racing public, in expressing our gratitude and kindly feelings towards Asnwdeus of the Pioneer^ whose graphic descriptions of stirring scenes in the old country have brightened many hours we might have otherwise wearily spent bewailing our exile. Believe me, Yours sincerely, M. H. HAYES. To J. Comyns Cole, Esq., The Beefsteak Club, King William Street, JV.C. CONTENTS. CHAPTERV>A-Lil.J. XJJjlN. IX. Contents. CHAPTER IV. The yth Hussars at Meean Meer 34 Sir Lepel Griffin .... 34 CHAPTER V. The 5 th Fusiliers . 38 The Gordon Highlanders , 39 Coeur-de-lion and Ranelagh at Sealkote 43 The JuUundur Meeting of 1869 . 45 A Game at Pyramids .... 48 CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. Contents. XI CHAPTER VIII. The Meerut Spring Meeting of 187 1 . 77 CHAPTER IX Dehra Doon .... 82 'The Dehra Races of i87i . 83 Aboo Janoub and Abdool Rahman 86 Gooch and Dignum . 89 Ranelagh and Karpos 92 Williams . 96 CHAPTER X. *' Bricky " Collins 99 Vanderdecken . 100 Jafifir and Roe . 103 CHAPTER XI. Cawnpore . 107 Jack O'Connor . 109 Aligurh III Lucknow Races, 1872 "3 Hawkestone 114 Cawnpore Races, 1872 120 Lucknow Races, 1873 127 Mr. William Thacker 131 Xll Contents. CHAPTER XII I'AGK Liirline The Constable Cup . 136 Gamester . ^3^ War Eagle 141 Cawnpore Races, 1874 144 Daybreak and Bowman 145 CHAPTER XIII. The Three Districts . Contents. Xlll CHAPTER XIV. Rebecca . 172 Eig Fences 174 Mr. Short . 178 Captain Papillon 178 CHAPTER XV. General " Monty " TurnbuU i«o CHAPTER XVI. Lord Ulick Browne 193 CHAPTER XVII. XIV Contents. CHAPTER XVIII. Cachar Contents. XV I'AGE Mr. ^acDougall 276 Bismillah ..... 277 Mr. Anderson's Horses 280 Speechless .... 284. Rampore Beauleah Races, 1879 . 287 XVI Contents. LIST OF PORTRAITS. Captain M. H. Hayes INDIAN RACING REMINISCENCES. CHAPTER I. ROUND THE CAPE TO INDIA—MEEAN MEER. FTER a Voyage from Gravescnd round the Cape of a hundred and thirty- seven days in the good ship Dilbhur, we arrived at Kurrachee in the month of March, 1868. We had ^^ about five hundred men on board belonging to detachments of the Royal Regiment, 5th Fusiliers, 109th Regiment, and of the Horse Artillery, which I commanded. Our navigation was regulated by the old maxim of slow but sure, for our skipper's wife, who was on board, did not approve of carrying on sail to any great extent, and her worthy and obliging husband dutifully obeyed her orders on all occasions. Our 2 Indian Racing Reminiscences. commanding officer was an old colonel with a young wife, so he left the rest of us very much to our own devices. We accordingly got on well together, and had not an unhappy time of it. My detachment of about a hundred and fifty were almost all recruits, who violently resented any interference from the infantry non-com- missioned officers : the consequence being that there were frequent courts-martial on my gunners and drivers, with, now and then, a flogging parade. I got on well with my men as I was fond of athletics, and used to encourage sparring and other sports among them to while away the tedium of the voyage. When they came into collision with the infantry non-commissioned officers they used to collect en masse and openly defy authority. On these occasions I was obliged to volun- teer to go forward to the forecastle and secure the ringleaders, as they would allow no one else to interfere with them, although they cheerfully submitted to any order I gave. Whenever one of my men was to be " tied up," my soldier servant always came to me the first thing in the morning, and asked me to give him a bottle of gin, as "he felt very queer inside." Before being flogged, the prisoner always begged to be allowed a drink of water, which was invariably supplied to him by Round the Cape to India. my batman out of a capacious pannikin. It would have rejoiced the heart of a Blue Ribbon Army man, had one been present, to have seen the exhilarating effect that water had on the culprit, who used to take his fifty with the utmost fortitude for the honour of his corps, and with evident satisfaction at the prospect of finishing the remainder of the contents of the friendly can, which, strange to say, smelt strongly of Old Tom on one occa- sion when I found it in my cabin after having been used for the sufferer's benefit. Despite these occasional outbreaks of insubordination, we were a fairly contented party on board, and, as most of us were young, we were happy on the slightest pro- vocation. We had immense resources in whist, ccartc^ ship's quoits, shooting at bottles, angling for Cape pigeons, trying to catch sharks, or boarding some vessel near at hand when becalmed, boxing, playing high cockalorum, and follow my leader up the rigging, getting up private theatricals, and writing for our manuscript newspaper ; while we had always the serious business of eating and drinking before our eyes. Life on board ship is a sadly tedious affair for passengers who have no congenial spirits, nor any all-sufficing pursuit of their own. I remember once coming from Indian Racing Reminiscences. Madras round the Cape in a crazy old hulk with only- four or five passengers who were not lively. I was little more than a boy then, so fretted for amusement. Like a convict who spends the leisure of years in carving rings and imitation books out of stone with a rusty nail, I seized with enthusiasm the idea, suggested by one of the sailors, of cutting a chain and anchor out of a piece of wood.